Battle Wounds
Today was my first attempt at running 60 continuous minutes. All I can say is that I'm glad it's over.
My running partner and I decided to meet in Amarillo at Medi-Park. A lovely little park in the hospital district that has a sidewalk winding around a little lake. It's a very beautiful place out here in the flatlands of the panhandle and it even has some elevation changes in it too. There are tons of ducks, geese and even a couple of swans to feed if you so desire. There is a nice playground located at one point as well so the park is always busy with people and kids. Lots of walkers and runners making use of the grounds too.
So back to the run-- We are making our way down the sidewalk about 10 minutes or so in to the run when my foot catches on a crack in the sidewalk...
Grace is not my middle name and I proved it here.
I pitch forward with my whole body. Bracing myself for the fall, I throw my right hand in front of me and catch the ground with my palm as my right knee takes most of the impact. By now gravity has caught up with me and the momentum propels my left hip forward and it makes contact with the sidewalk sending me rolling into Stacy's (said running partner) path. To my relief, the world finally stops spinning and I come to a stop with my arms and legs flung in all directions. Stacy has somehow managed to remain upright despite my best efforts to take her down with me and is leaning over me with concerned eyes and worried questions about the being of my physical state. (Of course my pride has taken the worst of it.) I slowly pull myself up to a sitting position and get my bearings again, tell Stacy I'm fine and stand up. Thankfully, I am wearing running leggings so there is no blood to be seen.
I guess pride really does come before a fall... Since Saturday my phone, Facebook and Twitter accounts have been blowing up with sweet words of praise and encouragement from friends and family after the Race for the Cure 5K. (I think my head had doubled in size.) Nothing like a little fall to keep you humble.
Many moons have passed since I've done any running at Medi-Park so, I was caught up in the scenery when I should have been paying attention to where my feet were going. Once I'm upright again, we go on about the run but my eyes are now trained on the sidewalk. Which, honestly, is best as there are a lot of doggy droppings (aren't people supposed to clean that crap up?). And the birds I mentioned earlier--they leave their mark too. Oh, and the darn birds like to lay or stand in the path and then move in the same direction you go to try and get out of the way, much like dogs or cats do when you're trying to cook. It's really quite an obstacle course.
Another lesson learned today: the wind is either FOR you or AGAINST you. Today it hated me. Good grief, as if the elevation changes and the fall were not enough, the wind had to get in the mix too. It was blowing like mad and every with incline I encountered it seemed to step it up a notch. When I would finally turn and have the wind to my back, it seemed to only last for a nano-second and then I was, once again, against the wind. It was out to get me for sure.
So between the wind and the elevation changes I didn't actually run the full 60 minutes. The last 10-15 minutes were a combination of bracing myself against the wind just to walk up the hill and then running down the other side. Then my hip started to ache going up the hills which made running them even more miserable so another reason walking won out. In the end I think I managed almost 50 minutes of total running time. Still a record and big accomplishment in my book.
When I finally got home (after a detour by Taco Villa for comfort food), I took off my leggings and discovered that the sidewalk bit me pretty good. My knee looks like someone took a bat to it. It's already turning black and blue which just adds to the beauty of the 2 bright pink strawberries the sidewalk left. I'm also getting very sore and stiff from the run and probably, the fall too. My wrist aches a bit also now that I think about it... Anyway, after a nice, hot, soaking, epsom salt bath, I laid down to ice the hip and knee. Stacy called to check on me, I said I was fine. I really am. Really. I've survived much worse than this!
My running partner and I decided to meet in Amarillo at Medi-Park. A lovely little park in the hospital district that has a sidewalk winding around a little lake. It's a very beautiful place out here in the flatlands of the panhandle and it even has some elevation changes in it too. There are tons of ducks, geese and even a couple of swans to feed if you so desire. There is a nice playground located at one point as well so the park is always busy with people and kids. Lots of walkers and runners making use of the grounds too.
So back to the run-- We are making our way down the sidewalk about 10 minutes or so in to the run when my foot catches on a crack in the sidewalk...
Grace is not my middle name and I proved it here.
I pitch forward with my whole body. Bracing myself for the fall, I throw my right hand in front of me and catch the ground with my palm as my right knee takes most of the impact. By now gravity has caught up with me and the momentum propels my left hip forward and it makes contact with the sidewalk sending me rolling into Stacy's (said running partner) path. To my relief, the world finally stops spinning and I come to a stop with my arms and legs flung in all directions. Stacy has somehow managed to remain upright despite my best efforts to take her down with me and is leaning over me with concerned eyes and worried questions about the being of my physical state. (Of course my pride has taken the worst of it.) I slowly pull myself up to a sitting position and get my bearings again, tell Stacy I'm fine and stand up. Thankfully, I am wearing running leggings so there is no blood to be seen.
I guess pride really does come before a fall... Since Saturday my phone, Facebook and Twitter accounts have been blowing up with sweet words of praise and encouragement from friends and family after the Race for the Cure 5K. (I think my head had doubled in size.) Nothing like a little fall to keep you humble.
Many moons have passed since I've done any running at Medi-Park so, I was caught up in the scenery when I should have been paying attention to where my feet were going. Once I'm upright again, we go on about the run but my eyes are now trained on the sidewalk. Which, honestly, is best as there are a lot of doggy droppings (aren't people supposed to clean that crap up?). And the birds I mentioned earlier--they leave their mark too. Oh, and the darn birds like to lay or stand in the path and then move in the same direction you go to try and get out of the way, much like dogs or cats do when you're trying to cook. It's really quite an obstacle course.
Another lesson learned today: the wind is either FOR you or AGAINST you. Today it hated me. Good grief, as if the elevation changes and the fall were not enough, the wind had to get in the mix too. It was blowing like mad and every with incline I encountered it seemed to step it up a notch. When I would finally turn and have the wind to my back, it seemed to only last for a nano-second and then I was, once again, against the wind. It was out to get me for sure.
So between the wind and the elevation changes I didn't actually run the full 60 minutes. The last 10-15 minutes were a combination of bracing myself against the wind just to walk up the hill and then running down the other side. Then my hip started to ache going up the hills which made running them even more miserable so another reason walking won out. In the end I think I managed almost 50 minutes of total running time. Still a record and big accomplishment in my book.
When I finally got home (after a detour by Taco Villa for comfort food), I took off my leggings and discovered that the sidewalk bit me pretty good. My knee looks like someone took a bat to it. It's already turning black and blue which just adds to the beauty of the 2 bright pink strawberries the sidewalk left. I'm also getting very sore and stiff from the run and probably, the fall too. My wrist aches a bit also now that I think about it... Anyway, after a nice, hot, soaking, epsom salt bath, I laid down to ice the hip and knee. Stacy called to check on me, I said I was fine. I really am. Really. I've survived much worse than this!
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